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Two eggs per day keeps the belly fat away

I found an intriguing study in the Advanced Online Publication section of the International Journal of Obesity. (Currently you can download the full text of the article free here. Often these articles go unfree once they are published, so grab it in pdf while you can.) The paper shows the value of adding a couple of eggs to not just a low-carb diet, but to any calorically restricted diet.

The authors point out that since different foods confer different degrees of satiety (i.e., meat: a lot; pasta: not much), a diet composed of foods with higher satiety values might just help people lose weight more easily. Well, duh. Those of us in the low-carb biz have been saying that for years since low-carb diets are so much more satiating than high-carb diets, and, consequently, those who follow low-carb diets tend to spontaneously reduce their caloric intake. Of course the lipophobes out there all then shout that the extra fat and cholesterol are going to clog the arteries of anyone following a low-carb diet.

The authors of this paper randomized 152 overweight subjects into four different study groups. The groups were to follow one of four plans. Subjects in one group (the egg group E) were instructed to eat an egg breakfast daily but to continue their regular, non-weight-loss diet otherwise. Subjects in the bagel group (B) were instructed to eat a bagel breakfast and make no other changes in their diet. The members of the third group (the egg diet ED group) were to eat an egg breakfast and follow a 1000 kcal reduced diet. Subjects in the last group (the BD group) got instruction on eating the bagel breakfast while reducing kcal by 1000. So, two groups ate bagels or eggs for breakfast and didn’t diet while two groups ate bagels or eggs and reduced their overall caloric intake by 1000 kcal from their diet before starting the study.

Here is the makeup of the egg and bagel breakfasts:

Now here’s where it gets interesting. For the two groups on the dieting arms of the study, the researchers designed low-fat diets that cut 1000 kcal from the diets these overweight subjects were previously eating. Then the researchers cut them loose and told them to go home and follow their diets. No calling and encouraging them. No visits by the dietitians. No hectoring them to stick to their specific diet. No requirement to keep a food diary. The researchers wanted to make it as close to the way people in the real world go on a diet as possible.

At the end of two months, the subjects who had simply eaten the egg breakfast or bagel breakfast without any other dieting effort demonstrated no differences in weight. The group who ate the egg breakfast while dieting, however, showed fairly dramatic changes when compared to those who ate the bagel breakfast and dieted.

Subjects in the ED group lost 65 percent more weight, had a 34 percent greater reduction in waist circumference, and a 16 percent greater reduction in body fat than did those in the BD group. (The ED group also had a 61 percent reduction in BMI, but who cares about BMI?)

The fact that the E group, those who simply added the egg breakfast to their regular diet didn’t lose any more than those in the B group, who added the bagel breakfast to their diet provides evidence that there isn’t something magical about the egg that causes non-dieting people to lose weight. I suspect that those not trying to lose weight simply consumed their typical diet, and the bagel breakfast or egg breakfast didn’t change things much for them.

But, for those who were restricting calories, the satiating effects of the eggs must have helped them stick to their caloric restriction better than did the bagel. And, as I’ve pointed out in other posts, carbs override the satiety center in the brain, allowing people to eat more even when they’re full. The bagel breakfast provided almost 50 percent more carb than the egg breakfast. Fat and protein both stimulate the satiety center causing a feeling of fullness more quickly, and the egg breakfast contained about 25 percent more protein and 30 percent more fat, which makes it kind of a no-brainer that the egg breakfast should be more satiating than the bagel breakfast.

But what about all the cholesterol? Well, as it turns out, the addition of two eggs per day didn’t raise cholesterol a bit. There were no significant changes in total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol or triglycerides between the ED and the BD groups. If you look at the trend (a dangerous thing to do because it isn’t relevent), you can see that all the small changes in lipids were in a direction one would expect on a lower-carb diet: a little lower cholestero, lower LDL, higher HDL, and lower triglycerides. But nothing of statistical significance. If there were more people on the study or it was longer, these differences may have reached statistical significance, but they hadn’t when this study ended. What the data do show, however, is that adding a couple of eggs per day doesn’t do squat to your cholesterol level.

I’m glad that the researchers used a real world setting for this study instead of performing it in a metabolic ward where calories could be monitored closely. Even though data from these types of studies tend to be more exact, they don’t tell what happens in real life when people simply go on a diet and monitor themselves. Anyone can lose weight on the Auschwitz diet if they are in Auschwitz, and I’m sure any studies of such a diet would show pretty spectacular results. But who cares? No one is going to go on that diet even if it does produce spectacular results. For a diet to be effective it must be one that people can follow on their own without a team of people monitoring, encouraging and recording every bite.

This egg verses bagel study is helpful because it shows once again that limiting carbs – even a little – while adding fat and protein helps to bring about more weight loss, and more weight loss in the right place, which is around the waist. Most readers of this blog I would imagine are low-carbers, and this information, though interesting, won’t provide any new or exciting ideas for helping to accelerate weight loss. But, based on the comments I get, many readers have family members or friends whom they know would improve on a low-carb diet, but can’t get that person to try a low-carb diet thanks to all the negative press, ignorant doctors, misguided friends, etc. This study shows a nice way to ease them into a low-carb diet without a lot of fuss. Show them the paper, then tell them to go ahead and follow their low-fat diet but eat a couple of eggs for breakfast. The decreased hunger and increased weight loss along with the stable lipid values (should they get them checked) should go a long way toward persuading your friends and/ or loved ones that they should maybe edge a little further down the low-carb road.

If all goes well as they inch along, before you know it, they’ll be hooked like you are.

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49 thoughts on “Two eggs per day keeps the belly fat away”

Doctor Mike, thanks so much for your always outstanding reporting of these articles. I love the way you break down the med-tech jargon into a language that the rest of us can comprehend. I hope the incredible edible egg continues to get more of the good press it so deserves. As you know Jonny Bowden had lots of good things to say about it in his book, 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. I always look forward to seeing one of your posts pop up in my Google Reader. I linked your article in my blog so my readers could take advantage of the good news as well. Ron, aka The Former Donut Junkie.

Dr. Mike,
This is way off topic, but can being on a long term antibiotic regime cause one to gain or retain weight?
I have been on the diet for two months, I have lost 15 lbs (but I am 6 ft tall and weighed 286 to start) but look like I have lost more. I look deflated according to my mother, and am mega saggy now.
I wonder if the zpacs I have been taking the whole time make a difference.
I have not cheated – no not once And have eaten no artifical sweetners.
Thank you for caring

There are a number of medications that can cause either a loss of weight or a gain. Antibiotics don’t fall into this category however. But I don’t know what the underlying condition is that would cause you to take one Z-pack after another. Z-packs are meant to be taken for 5 days only. Perhaps whatever the underlying condition is is causing the problem. A couple of studies have been published lately showing that the types of bacteria colonizing the GI tract can make a difference in how easily weight is lost or gained. Perhaps the chronic taking of zithromycin has changed the ratios of the various bacteria living synergistically with you. Bear in mind that these are all guesses on my part. I would need much, much more information before I could make an intelligent judgment.

The only weakness in this study is that it was funded by the American Egg Board. Given how often drug company studies slant, skew, and misrepresent the data to promote their products and how often we have to discount those studies, it is only fair to exercise the same level of caution when an industry-funded study supports the efficacy of some technique we like to believe in.

We should be demanding that research not be contaminated by private interest on all sides of this debate. And society must come to understand the importance of funding research by disinterested parties so that we get results we can trust.

I agree that the funding source on these types of studies can raise some eyebrows. But I think there is a difference between these studies and those funded by the drug companies. The peers in the peer-review process for drug company-funded research more often than not are themselves funded by these same drug companies. Which often makes it tough to be as hard nosed in the critical evaluation as would be expected. I seriously doubt that many (if any at all) reviewers for the International Journal of Obesity are members of the American Egg Board or are involved in the egg business in any way. And given the findings, I suspect the peer review on this one was fairly rigorous.

As I’ve pointed out before, typically the way industry influences studies is not by lousy technique but by failing to publish those that don’t provide the desired results. If company A funds 10 studies, and half of them show a benefit for company A’s product and the other half show a lack of benefit (or even a negative effect) of company A’s product, then the overall data shows that company A’s product is neutral at best. But if company A only publishes the positive article, the entirety of the published data show a different story.

The problem with nutritional studies is funding. Who other than the egg industry would underwrite such a study? The NIH certainly won’t.

The first sentence of the abstract leaves no worry as to where they stand on the issue. But the last two sentences…well, take a look for yourself. I think they are confused. They’ve moved to a point of contradicting themselves in abstracts.

Low-carbohydrate diets may be an option for inducing weight loss in obese patients, but a very low intake of carbohydrate-rich foods is not commensurate with a healthy and palatable diet in the long term. However, there is evidence that increasing the protein content of the diet from 15% up to 20%-30%, at the expense of carbohydrates, increases the satiating effect of the diet, and induces a spontaneous weight loss, and this could turn out to be a preferred option for patients with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

All you’ve got to see to understand is the name on the paper: Arne Astrup. He’s from Denmark and is one of the world’s great proponents of the low-fat diet. He is totally in denial about the efficacy of the low-carb diet despite the fact that some really good work on low-carb diets has come from his own lab. He’s kind of Scandinavia’s version of Jim Hill or George Bray.

If I thought they’d a) read it and b) understand it, I’d love to show the paper to my friends and family :-). I may have a fighting chance if instead I send them a link to your – as ever – excellent, layman’s guide, for which many thanks.

Interesting most of all that the egg breakfast only contained about 15 *less* carbs than the bagel breakfast. I suspect there’s other factors than carbohydrate involved… most likely the egg breakfast was a lot less insulinogenic than the bagel breakfast even though the difference between the two was a measly 15 g of carb. I suspect quality of protein had a lot to do with it (most of the protein came from bagels in BD, whereas it came from eggs a much higher quality source in ED).

Ok this is anecdotal, but I had a period some time back where I started having a bagel with cream cheese every morning for breakfast. There was no other change in my diet. Previously, I was eating an egg wrap for breakfast. Satiety was the same in both cases.

Well I noticed I gained weight and stopped the practice. So I wonder if it’s not so much that eggs will induce weight loss, as that bagels are uniquely fattening.

There is nothing about Auschwitz that is funny. The diet there was meager and everyone on it barely kept from starving. Actually many did starve. My point was that if one is on the Auschwitz diet, one will lose weight. But it’s not a diet anyone could stick on without being in Auschwitz or some other lock down facility at which people are held at gunpoint.

Hi, Doc! I’m a longtime lurker and have been waiting for a good opportunity to ask this question:
I recall from reading PPLP that the good fats in egg yolks break down easily. Do I understand correctly that breaking and cooking yolks ruins the extra-good nutrient value? Does this mean that as a daily scrambled egg eater I am wasting them (except as protein I guess)? I also feed my toddler scrambled eggs every morning – she won’t eat eggs any other way and it’s the most consistent protein source I can get her to eat a lot of. Finally, what do you say about Omega 3 eggs like Eggland’s Best – I usually get them, but is it worth the extra money?

I really appreciate how you interact with readers on this blog! I have learned so much about how to evaluate health information.

It’s the cholesterol in egg yolks that gets oxidized when the yolks are broken, which is why I like to eat eggs with the yolk intact. But if you scramble them soft and don’t let them set around forever, there’s probably not a lot of damage.

I do like Eggland’s Best. It’s what we use. But, since I’ve never seen a study comparison between those eggs and non-Eggland’s Best on blood lipids, I can’t really say what the extra omega-3 does.

This confirms my own experience. Last year when I thought oatmeal was a healthy breakfast, I’d eat a huge bowl and be painfully hungry within about 3 hours. Now, three scrambled eggs gets me about 5 hours before I start to feel mild feelings of hunger.

So I can last longer without food, and the onset of hunger is more mild.

Personally, I would have let Mr. “Did You Really Write That?” spend eternity in the moderation queue. You have better things to do than respond to anonymous sanctimony.

I have a number of Jewish friends who have no grandparents, no aunts, no uncles, no family at all really other than their parents who managed to escape the Nazis and make their way here. For obvious reasons these people are keenly sensitive (and rightly so) to anyone making light of the nightmare that left them bereft of family. I don’t know if anonymous falls into that category or not, but I wanted to assure him/her that I wasn’t being humorous.

I’m trying not to be disgusted by the quality of the research (I’ve been listening to Taubes describing the principles of good science). If they wanted to find out the effects an egg breakfast vs. a bagel (and cream cheese) breakfast, why not keep the rest of the menu the same. Since they were using scrambled eggs, the amount served could be increased or decreased to match the caloric value of the bagel. The toast with the eggs undoes a good deal of the difference between the breakfasts, the bagel having the 15 extra carbs. There are way too many variables from the other menu items to reach any reasonable conclusion. If you want to prove or disprove the hypothesis that eggs are a healthier breakfast item than bagels, than change only that variable.

The fact that it wasn’t a rigorous study is why I like it. It sort of replicates what happens when people go on a diet on their own. We all know that a rigid low-carb diet brings about weight loss and a plethora of other good changes. But we also know that it’s sometimes difficult to get people to go whole hog (so to speak) on such a diet. This study shows that if we can simply talk someone who is low-fat dieting into simply substituting a couple of eggs for the standard low-fat breakfast (there’s not much difference between a bagel and a couple of bowls of cereal), that person will lose more weight. And, like they used to say about marijuana leading to harder drugs, maybe this small change will lead to larger changes down the way. It’s an easy way for one to dip a toe into the low-carb waters.

Dr Eades, You’ve said previously that researchers in other studies have used eggs to intentionally raise cholesterol. I wonder why this study didn’t also raise it? Two/day not enough?

In the studies in which cholesterol was fed to animals to raise serum cholesterol levels, the cholesterol used came from powdered eggs, which are notoriously high in oxidized cholesterol. Much higher levels than you get with a couple of scrambled eggs. Plus, in most of those experiments the powdered eggs were fed to animals (rabbits, for example) that are normally vegetarian and get no cholesterol in their native diets.

I’m sorry. I was referring to the related post about blowing the shell off a hard-boiled egg. I read that today and thought about egg salad all day. When I got home to watch the video (I don’t watch videos at work), the egg shelling video wasn’t on the site. I am not quite sure how the technique is done and was interested in watching it.

Feel free to delete these comments.
Valerie

Hi Valerie–

I checked, and you are correct: the video was no longer working. I’ve got it fixed, however, so you can go to the post and watch.

Tim Ferriss did a post himself on this technique after reading my post. Here is the link to his video as well. I also updated the post to include this video.

I appreciate your reference regarding the Auschwitz diet. My mother was trying to explain to her doctor that she was having difficulty losing weight (probably a low fat diet at the time), when he cut her off and proclaimed that no one had trouble losing weight in Auschwitz. He may have been more blunt than most doctors, but I think more than just a few physicians believe that all we need to do is cut our calories until the weight comes off, no matter what the effects on the body. It’s not quite that simple, though, as some of us now know.

Regarding whether Eggland’s Best eggs (and other eggs enriched with Omega 3, etc. and the whole organic vs. non-organic discussion) … I’ve read that plain old grocery store eggs are more than sufficient and a lot less expensive, to boot. I’ve read that these premium eggs are a scam and a waste of money.

I don’t know what’s fact and what’s not, but I do know that the Eggland’s Best eggs TASTE so much better than the grocery store eggs. I bought them originally because I felt they were better for me, but I continue to buy them because they taste better. Or maybe it’s the placebo effect. Who knows. They taste good, and I eat a lot of eggs.

Back when I was eating my dry bagel or shredded wheat, a banana, and skim milk for breakfast (BPP, Before Protein Power), I would get ravenously hungry about an hour after breakfast. Now I often skip breakfast because whatever protein and fat I ate for dinner the night before keeps me going until lunchtime. It’s a good feeling not to be ruled by food.

That study, being of a more “real world” scenario, reminded me of the fellow you wrote about in PP, who lived in a nursing home and ate a dozen eggs a day. I wonder what results they would have gotten if they had told the E group to eat as many eggs as they wanted?

Thanks for the reminder about oxidized cholesterol. Sometimes I think we’re doing everything right, but then start to slip up.
The only way we can get our kids to eat eggs is in other things. I make a delicious low carb egg, sausage, bacon, cheese, & spinach fritatta that our kids really love… but there I’ve slipped up again. I like to pretend that my fritattas have less cholesterol peroxides than a typical breakfast (or the absolute rubbish the school doles out at lunch), but oh well. Sure is hard to feed kids right in this day & age.

If you want a real treat, try eggs from a pasture farmer. The chickens that are allowed to run around on pasture and eat bugs produce wonderful eggs with super-bright orangey yellow yolks. The shells are strong and come in many colors such as speckles & green, not just white or brown.

On the subject that no one willingly would eat the diet forced on concentration camp prisoners, I recall from a book I read a few years ago titled the Beauty Myth (a discussion of cultural pressure on women to conform to a certain aesthetic ideal) that the low-fat 1200 calorie diet typically recommended to women to be slim is akin to the calorie amount and nutritional inadequacy of what was fed to people in concentration camps.

On the subject of eggs, a carton of them once would have gone bad sitting in my refrigerator because I bought them only when I needed a few for a baked goods recipe. Now I buy several cartons at a time when they are on sale because they will get used up so quickly. We have a compost pile at the back of our property by an alley, and I am sure our neighbors must marvel at the number of eggs the two of us consume, based on the amount of eggshells that accumulate in our compost. Not only does it take longer to get hungry again when eating plenty of fat and protein, but it’s a gentler, more patient hunger (yes, I’m hungry but I can wait a little longer)–not that old vicious hunger (if I don’t get something to eat RIGHT NOW I’m going to hurt someone) that high carb eating induces.

So true about the subjective effects of the different kinds of hunger.

For me, eggs make great between-meal snacks (especially hard-boiled, because of the convenience) and kick my ketosis into high gear, helping to suppress my appetite so that when I sit down to a regular meal, I’m not nearly as hungry.

Hard boiled eggs are always in the frig here and is one of those snacks that you don’t have to ask Mom if you can have some.

We do get them from a farmer along with fresh chickens!

BTW…my endo now refers to me as her “successful low carb insulin pumper” She had a student in once with her and it was a great topic of discussion about the different ratios of basal to bolus and how my diet was such an effective method to prevent over insulinization.

Some changes may be in the wind…she didn’t even suggest lipitor to me….

Someone sent me this “7 day Soup Diet” and I wondered how it works and if it’s a good thing. I trust you to have a good answer. If I get sick of low-carbing, would replacing this for a week be a good thing?

Beth found this so called “Sacred Heart Diet” on line not long ago. It was this hospital’s 7 day diet for heart patients to help them loose a good amount of weight in the course of a week. It’s a cleansing diet and it is working for thousands of people in Whistleland. As always, please be sure to consult your physician before starting any diet program.

This 7 day eating plan can be used as often as you like. If correctly followed, it will clean out your system of impurities and make you feel great. More energy than you’ve had in years. Many people have reported a one week loss from 10 to as much as 18 pounds.

Fruit and Soup. No bananas today. We’ll get to that later. But any other fruit will do. Canteloups and Watermellons are good choices. Enjoy lots of fresh fruit and all the soup you can eat

Day Two

Veggies and Soup. All of the fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies you care to eat. Try leafy green veggies. Stay away from dry beans, corn or peas. NO FRUIT TODAY. And of course..more soup. Reward yourself tonight with a huge baked potato WITH butter

Day Three

Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Yep..combine all three. It’s day one and day two altogether. NO baked potato today. Sorry..but, if you’ve been true to the diet..you should be down about 5 to 7 pounds. Way to GO!!!

Day Four

Soup and eat at least three bananas today..and as much skimmed milk that you can. You body needs the potassium, protein and carbs. This will get it done.

Day Five

Eat the soup at least once today. AND..it’s BEEF DAY. That’s right..treat yourself to 10 to 20 ounces of beet today and as many as 6 tomatoes. A can of tomatoes would do.

Day 6

WOW!!! All the beef and veggies you can eat. Enjoy 2 to 3 steaks with lots of leafy green vegetables. Also have one serving of the soup.

Day 7

Eat all the soup you can. Also lots of brown rice and unsweetened fruit juice. Stuff yourself with all three.

Okay..if you followed this diet you will have lost weight. Your body has been cleansed. You have more energy. Now, moving forward. You’ll find that one of the benefits of this diet is how you think about..day 8. Make sensible choices and you will keep that weight off…maybe even loose more. Also, wait until you’ve been off the diet for at least 14 hours before consuming alcohol.

You can eat the fat burning soup anytime you want. You can broiled or baked chicken instead of beef. Subsitute fish for the beef only one day if you wish.

DO NOT

Consume alcohol, bread or carbonated beverages, diet or otherwise during this diet. And of course, no fried foods

DO DO DO

Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses a water a day and the other approved beverages at the top of the page.

This diet comes from Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital and was designed for heart patients who were overweight and in need of rapid weight loss.

Sounds pretty high carb to me, at least on the fruit days. I doubt that it would hurt much to try it for a week just for a change, but I certainly don’t think it’s the answer to the obesity epidemic. If you do try it, let me know how it works.

Does anyone have experience of an epileptic child and controlling it with a ketogenic diet please ?

A young lass in my wifes class..well her Mum is a single Mum from the middle east who English and also her level of comprehension is not so good.Any pamplets for the person who doesnt low carb…anything would be great as the poor lass has huge seizures.

email supachramp at yahoo.com any suggestions would be more than super.

Don’t know if this is related to the oxidation of cholesterol in scrambled yolks, but I have found scrambled eggs to be quite a bit less satisfying than boiled ones. I need at least 3-4 scrambled to make a meal, but one boiled is quite satisfying.

I think your site should be shut down as being subversive. Not only have learned to look askance at the main stream media reports on diet, but now I am even paying close attention to the media reporting on social issues and the presidential race. Now, I look at the abstracts, the data AND the conclusions on global warming and energy development and a host of other issues. How dare you make us think! I want my happy ignorance back and my blind faith in authority!

Here was a message one of my internet moms group friends wrote me on there today…she’s trying South Beach for 2 weeks. (she claims it’s the only healthy low carb diet). Sigh. What a surprise to hear this (it make me laugh and cry inside at the same time! or as you say, Jesus wept. 😉 )

“My friend Polly who I walked with this morning has her BS in Nutritional Science and I was talking a little bit about my phase 1 diet and how good I’ve done so far with her and she said that majority of Nutritionalists do not like the low carb diet as a lifestyle, because it leads to kidney failure and then causes (due to the kidney’s) heart failure. So you might not like it as much once you’re in it if the professors are teaching you the opposite of what you love and have passion for.”

I told them today I might go back to school to be a nutritionist. But I guess she has a point, how would I get through all the BS I’d have to learn but don’t agree with? Might have to wait another 20 years for that one…

seriously, where are they getting the kidney failure? Isn’t it if you already have a serious kidney problem it’s not good. Just where are they getting this from, and how could that lead to heart disease. Or are both of those statements just total crap?

I guess they inferred it from all the groups of bodybuilders (who eat enormous amounts of protein) they’ve seen gaggled around dialysis centers.

I had switched to a low-carb diet but now I am wondering if I made the right decision. The September 17,2008 JAMA includes a 25-year review of the relationship between cholesterol and coronary heart disease (“The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial – Importance Then and Now, pgs 1343-1345). The authors say the relationship between serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease is continuous, graded, and strong.

The authors claim what they said 25 years ago holds true today. To prevent coronary heart diease, we must lower intake/abstain from meat, dairy products, egg yolks, and processed sugars in favor of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. What are we to make of this affirmation of traditional advice?

Perhaps you did not make the right decision, especially if you’re going to panic every time you read a study (or a report of a study) that appears to invalidate your decision. The study published in JAMA is an observational study and means absolutely nothing. It doesn’t matter that the people writing the commentary on they study make like it’s the second coming. It isn’t. It’s a simple observational study that means nada.

Besides, more often than not, cholesterol levels fall on low-carb diets, which means that even if this study were meaningful (which it isn’t), it wouldn’t invalidate a low-carb diet.

Omega-6 Polyunsaturated fats have been associated with a number of health issues, cancer being one of them. (On a side note, why is it so darn hard to find a mayo that doesn’t use soy bean oil!)

Eggs are a big part of my breakfast and I do feel satiated longer when I include them, but are they not high in Omega 6’s?

How do you feel about their inclusion? They definitely have a lot of pros, but the omega-6 factor seems to be a bit of a concern. I can’t see us as a species eating eggs until we had some sort of vessel to cook things in. I wonder how long they have been a part of our diet.

Your thoughts?

I wouldn’t worry about it. I looked up eggs in the USDA database of foods, and the amounts of omega-6 are minuscule. Omega-6 fats are essential fats, so we do need them. Problem is that we get way, way more than we need in the standard American diet, mainly from vegetable fats. I would say eat away on the eggs.

Excellent site! I usually eat eggs scrambled up with a fork, then microwaved for a minute and a half (3 eggs), just enough to get rid of all the liquid, but they may be still a little runny. Am I doing it the best way, or am I falling victim to oxidized cholesterol? Is there a better way to make scrambled eggs that keeps the nutrients but avoids increasing my cholesterol? Thanks!

Nah, you’re doing it okay. You may get a tiny bit of oxidized cholesterol, but not nearly as much as if you cook them until they’re like rubber, the way my mother likes them.

Nothing goes to the waist more than a big carb- rich meal, in fact when I have done this in the past my face felt fat even or at least bloated . The greater it is on the glycemic index the worse it is for the waist and heart .

I came across this articlehttp://medic.al/story.php?title=cracking-the-case-for-eggs#c4
Im a bit confused now …
Egs are a powerhouse of nutrition, rich in protein, B vitamins, vitamin A and iron. They’re economical too, and you can’t beat them for versatility.
People are often concernd that eggs are a major source of cholesterol. It’s true. A single egg contains about 210 mg dietary cholesterol as well as 1 teaspoon of fat. But remember, it’s not so much the cholesterol as the saturated fat in your diet that affects your blood cholesterol. An egg contains less than half a teaspoon of saturated fat (compared with 1 teaspoon in a 3 1/2 ounce ,100 g, hamburger patty)….

Dr Eades,
Thank you for the article and the findings and it was beneficial one.
One should not worry about the cholestrol level as cholestrol does no harm to body at all. In fact the more fat and cholestrol I consume the better I am and reduce fat belly
Thank you

I have been having 2 eggs a 2 slices of bacon for breakfast…or cereal with whole milk and bananas..
a make a quart of drink using i quart of water afew packets of crystal lites and 2 lemons for my daily water..fruit thru out the day, popcorn, nuts and or a tuna sandwich, using whole grain bread, and a dinner consisting of canned soup, or meat and veggies w/o starches…once a week I treat myself with 4 popeye chicken wings and string beans..
and I seem to be losing fat and inches…only six lbs. but I look smaller and firmer… I not really following a diet but trying to lose weight by eating healthier…and being more concientious of what I eat.

Thank you very much for sharing that information and letting us save the amount of money we would have spent if we bought the paper. I believe that it will, through your post, really help many people to lose weight because it is an evidence based approach. Another positive side, people will now have the reason to try it since it is medically proven to be safe. I just hope that you don’t judge others and call others “names” or bad description of them who have other beliefs regarding the low carb diet. Just like you, they are also entitled to their own opinion and maybe they also have an evidence based study on what they believe in. Again, thank you for sharing your information and knowledge.

Dr. Eades,
I found your book, Protein Power, to be the most important book I’ve ever read in understanding the value of the low carb approach.

Now, concerning eggs, I have averaged between 6 and 18 eggs a day, mostly raw, and have found that at 12 eggs or more, there are really remarkable structural improvements, particularly in skin.

I am nearly 60 years old. I have used this 6 to 18 eggs a day regimen for much of the past six years. If anyone was going to die of “cholesterol” it would be me. I’ve consumed thousands and thousands and thousands of eggs, most all raw, and I have NO cholesterol problems.

Now, catch this: I weight 150 pounds, and am six feet tall, the exact same as when I won the State Wrestling Championship in high school, 42 years ago. Bodily dimensions are identical. I have very little body fat anywhere, and virtually zero belly fat, and it’s all because of the low-carbohydrate ideas presented in your book.

Of particular interest is your suggestion to restrict carbs after dinner so that your HGH production is not impacted.

I am eating 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast or dinner. It has stopped my hunger pangs and I’m not hungry for a long time….i can’t believe something so simple works better than anything else I’ve tried!!